The suspected ritualist, who was paraded at the weekend by the Rivers States Police Command for raping and killing an eight-year-old girl in Eliozu axis of Port Harcourt, Ifeanyi Dike, has escaped from the police custody.

The bereaved father of the girl, Ernest Mezuwuba, who disclosed this to newsmen in Port Harcourt, said, the suspect escaped from police custody shortly after writing his statement at the States Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), the same day he was paraded by the police.

According to Mezuwuba, “after I finished writing my statement and the suspect wrote his, he told the police that he wanted to drink water and the next thing I heard was help, catch him, he is running away and the officer just returned and said he has escaped.”

He expressed dissatisfaction over the inability of the police to discharge their duty and urged them to ensure the re-arrest of the suspected ritualist who is an undergraduate of the University of Port Harcourt.

It would be recalled that Ifeanyi Chukwu Maxwell Dike, a 23-year-old 200-level student of the Faculty of Science, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, was arrested for allegedly killing an eight-year-old girl named Victory Chikamso. Dike was arrested for the death of little Victory in a case suspected to be ritual murder.

Dike reportedly escaped from police custody on Sunday. The suspect had previously been handed over to the police after being caught by a local vigilance group in the Eliozu axis of Port Harcourt. He had reportedly removed the victim’s eyes, vagina, finger and tongue, after defiling and murdering her.

The state Commissioner of Police, Zaki Ahmed, who confirmed the incident, describing it as a result of an individual negligence, said the report of Dike’s escape is unfortunate and an embarrassment to the police.

He said the police officer that caused the escape, John Bosco, has been arrested and detained; assuring that they would soon track down the suspect, as the command has deployed all its arsenal to ensure Dike does not escape justice.